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Holly, Birdsill
| (1822-1894), U.S. mechanical engineer and hydraulics inventor, conceived and designed the water pumping system adopted by thousands of cities in the United States and Canada and also the central heating system used throughout the United States. He first organized the firm of Silsby, Race & Holly, Seneca Falls, New York, for the manufacture of hydraulic machines, inventing the Silsby steam fire engine with an unorthodox rotary engine and pumps. In 1859, he founded the Holly Manufacturing Company in Lockport, New York, to produce sewing machines and pumps. He designed and built his water system for Lockport in 1863, receiving a patent for the fire hydrant. His work with central steam heating led to the founding of the Holly Steam Combination Company (1877) in Lockport and, for which, he patented more than 150 improvements between 1876 and 1888. He reorganized this firm into the American District Steam Company. He was born Aug. 8, 1822, Auburn, New York, and died April 27, 1894, Lockport. |
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